Having always come across rave reviews of books by Kaylea Cross, I was more than prepared to delve into a story which I knew would hit all the right spots. And I am glad to report back that it certainly did hit all the right spots and then some with my very first Kaylea Cross which turned out to be the first book in her Bagram Special Ops series which hit the stands on the 5th of this month.

Captain and pilot commander Devon Crawford known as Spike amongst her friends and team mates faces the biggest dilemma of her life when she finds herself yearning for her boyfriend Ty’s bestfriend Cam Munro. From the first moment she had laid eyes on Cam, she had felt unsettled and the guilt of it all makes her pretty uneasy around his company though Cam had become one of her closest and trusted friends over time.

Technical Sergeant Cam Munro is a pararescueman in the U.S. Airforce. When his best friend Ty gets killed in active duty in the mountains of Afghanistan, it is Devon who takes his death the hardest not because she grieves for the man she loved but rather because she feels the guilt that is associated with her feelings towards Cam.

Though Cam respects Devon’s need to distance herself from him, Cam is playing for keeps and is not willing to go down without a fight to win the love of the woman who means everything to him. But with the strict military rules that prevent members of its forces from fraternizing coupled together with Devon’s need to work through her muddled feelings at her own pace, Cam who is patience personified finds himself tested severely as slow torturous inch by inch Devon starts to respond to the depth of need that Cam doesn’t want to hide any longer.

With heady adventure and military jargon that I found myself lost in sometimes, Deadly Descent is a novel that is as realistic as they come in depicting the different sides involved in the war on terror that jumpstarted with the 9/11 attacks on the US soil.

Kaylea Cross’s voice and prose is certainly an addictive one, easy to lose onself in though I sometimes wished for a glossary of certain terms used in the story. For someone who hails from a small country where the need for a super active military is at a minimum, I found myself a bit lost at times. But then again, the adventure aspect of the novel is fast paced which makes it hard not to bite your nails in apprehension wondering what would happen next and how and why a certain mad man is hell bent on getting his revenge and vengeance by killing Cam and and Devon amidst the the warlord’s agenda which is a bone chilling one.

Kaylea Cross has certainly done her homework on the aspects of the Islamic religion that is discussed in the novel and that earns a lot of respect from myself as a muslim. The fact that Kaylea explores the impact of a war that seems to make lesser sense as the casualities on both sides seems to grow sat well with me as I delved deeper into the story.

The way Kaylea puts forth her characters is one reason that makes Deadly Descent so readable. Even the villains are muti-faceted, not just a character created for namesake but rather a character that makes ones hairs stand at end because yes, the vicious and practical plan that he has in order to bring the US forces to its knees is a deceptively simple and a chilling one at the same time.

That brings me to Cam’s character who is so darn yummylicious in his own right. Laid back yes he is, but once he sets his eyes on Devon and vows to make her his, there is no stopping him from staking his claim and wooing her all at the same time. My disappointment because there wasn’t much romance towards the latter part of the book was totally forgotten from the moment Cam and Devon lights up the sheets and practically left me breathless throughout the encounter. Kaylea definitely knows what she is doing with her ultra yummy alpha heroes and the military plus the adventure aspects of the novel which makes it a winner all around!

Momentous Scenes

The first time Cam confronts Devon about their feelings towards each other. Such an emotion invoking scene!

The helicopter crash scene. Utterly horrifying because it was so darn realistic!

The sexual tension between Cam and Devon throughout the novel. Definitely the toe curling variety right there.

Favorite Quotes

He’d never felt this protective of a woman before. Only she brought that out in him. That powerful, odd mixture of independence and vulnerability completely melted him.The fact that she flew a Black Hawk and could talk shop with the best of them? Hot as hell. And her laugh. God, she had the dirtiest laugh he’d ever heard. Every time he heard it he thought of sex. Hot, sweaty sex, the kind that left a man exhausted and weak and his partner unable to move.

Tightening his arms, he dropped his head and pressed his face against the side of her neck to inhale her delicate scent. The instant he did, a sharp gasp tore out of her, her slender body rippling with a shiver as the sexual energy arced between them. Cam couldn’t help but groan and gather her closer, nuzzling the velvety skin beneath her ear.She lifted her face, and took him off guard by kissing him full on the lips. Hard and fast, the gesture so full of hunger it made him ache.

Gathering her courage, she swallowed past the lump in her throat and held his gaze. It wasn’t how she’d envisioned telling him, but she couldn’t let him go without saying the words. “I’m falling in love with you.”The smile died, his amused expression dissolving into shock. “What?”“Yeah. So you have to come back so I can finish the job.”A jumble of emotions swirled in the blue depths of his eyes as he stared at her. Then he broke into a wide smile and brought a hand up to cradle her cheek. “I’m coming back, sweetheart. I wouldn’t miss that chance for the world.”

Holding her steady as he kissed her, Cam caressed back and forth over her nipple, swallowing her cries while he rubbed the length of his cock between her open thighs. He could come right now, just from doing this. Just from the incredible heat and feel of her, and knowing she wanted him so much. She was so goddamn soft and responsive. He’d always known it would be like this with her. Hot and explosive and so damn good it ripped away the civilized part of him to expose the raw, dominant hunger inside.

She (Candace) straightened her spine and shot him (Ryan) a warning glare. “You know what? You just reminded me why I don’t like you.”He grinned like he got a giant kick out of needling her. Or maybe it was her response that he found funny. “Well I like you.”“That’s because I’m not rude and obnoxious.”“Well there is that. But I think it’s mostly to do with the fact that I’m standing here breathing because of you.”“Ah. So gratitude makes you rude? I’ll have to remember that if I’m in the area next time you get in a tight spot.”

(Devon) “Cam, what’s wrong?”He cursed and held her tighter. “Help me,” he rasped.Her senses dizzy from the scent and feel of him, it took a few moments for the words to register. She stroked her fingers through his thick, soft hair. “Help you?”His head moved against her hand, as much a show of helpless pleasure as it was a nod. “Help me slow down.”She shook her head. “I don’t want you to slow down—”“I want to be gentle,” he said roughly, his warm breath tickling her neck. “But I’m so fucking turned on right now all I can think about is pounding into you.”

(Devon) “Cam—you’re killing me,” she quavered, pressing her head back into the pillow and praying for patience. Her heart was pounding.“I’m loving you,” he corrected in a hot whisper, then took her nipple deep into his mouth as his palm brushed over the damp lace covering her core.

The muscles in his arms and back trembled as he pushed in as deep as he could go, until all of him was buried inside her. His head sagged and a deep, primitive snarl ripped free. Sparks of light exploded behind her tightly closed lids. His hands burrowed into her hair, holding her head still while he kissed her hard and deep and wild. Then he began to move. Hard, steady strokes that ignited every nerve ending in her body.

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2 Comments

This book seems really well balanced. Usually when the leads are in the military they end up escaping from an evil warlord through the jungle and there are explosions and TSTL moments delivered by the heroine and there’s no character growth whatsoever. But your review makes it sound like there’s a lot of emphasis on their relationship and how they are dealing with Ty’s death and the issue of not being able to engage in any romantic relationship besides having an action packed plot. It actually sounds really good, and I love that the heroine is a pilot, how cool is that!? Have you read Suzanne Brockmann’s Troubleshooters Series? I think the third book’s heroine was also a pilot and that book is one of my all-time favorites!

It’s also good to see that she doesn’t portray Muslims as the bad guys and that she gives layers to the conflict. I’m so sick of reading books where the bad guys are a cartoonish and one-dimensional versions of what the news tell us Muslims (or Latinos, or Russians, or whatever we see as different) are.